Calls for ‘urgent action’ to solve traffic chaos on major Chesterfield road

Published:10:37Thursday 09 November 2017

Calls have been made in Parliament to find an ‘urgent’ solution to traffic chaos on a major route through Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.

MP for North East Derbyshire, Lee Rowley, called for urgent action on the issue of congestion on Derby Road during a debate in the House of Commons.

Mr Rowley is demanding a ‘proper, long-term solution to a problem which has been decades in the making’.

In the House of Commons, he said: “The A61 Derby Road at the bottom of Chesterfield cuts through my constituency. It is one of the most constrained and congested A roads in the East Midlands, and it needs urgent attention.

“A real solution is needed that will actually solve the problems we have had over a number of decades. There were problems when I was growing up 16 years ago. There are still problems, and I do not want people to have those problems in 16 years’ time.”

Mr Rowley says congestion on Derby Road is one of the most common complaints from residents and he has held meetings with councillors to discuss the issue.

In the debate, Mr Rowley also spoke of the improvements to public transport in the last decade, including at Dronfield Railway Station, which has apparently seen passenger numbers quintuple over the past 10 years.

Last month, Mr Rowley held talks with Stagecoach after the frequency of a number of bus services in north east Derbyshire were cut and some were cut completely.

“I am committed to finding improvements to the various transport problems in North East Derbyshire,” Mr Rowley said.

“Some, including congestion on the A61, are longstanding issues and will not be solved easily – but we have to start talking about them to have any chance of fixing them in the future.”